Recycling Barge in Gothenburg – a sustainability analysis

Abstract

Previous innovations and services that have been developed in the area of sustainable urban mobility have sometimes had consequences that lead to unsustainability. This creates the need for investigating the potential outcomes of a service to identify the degree of sustainability. Based on the estimated growth in population and consumption an increase of waste and need for recycling can be expected. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to investigate under what conditions a recycling barge operating on inland waterways in the city of Gothenburg could be a sustainable option for urban waste logistics. The theoretical framework gives the reader the needed knowledge base for understanding how sustainable development is defined. Moreover, it gives insights on how sustainability interferes with urban logistics and make urban logistics a rather complex topic, which also interfere with waste projects conducted in urban areas. The strategy and design of this research is a qualitative case study. The major findings of this research are that the barge has significantly higher emission costs than the trucks currently going between the recycling centers and the sorting facility. The result also shows that the cost of operating the barge is high compared to the amount of waste collected. On a more positive note, the result indicates that the recycling barge has the potential of promoting people to recycle their waste more correctly and in this way create social value. The result also shows that the recycling barge creates a social value that the existing recycling centers have not been able to create. It can be concluded that the barge will mainly add on cost and environmental impact rather than replace parts of it created by the already existing recycling centers. Some of the important characteristics identified for making the recycling barge a sustainable option are; having an engine that emits low amounts of emissions, an infrastructure that enables the barge to be emptied without the need of being towed for a long-distance and having a high loading capacity so the barge gets fully utilized when moved.